North Dakota State Is The Team Of This Decade
By Cheval John
The Bison won their fifth consecutive NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) National Championship after defeating Jacksonville State 37-10 in Frisco, Texas.
The five consecutive national championships won by the Bison is an NCAA record in football at any level.
It seemed as if they were not supposed to win anymore after their third national championship when Craig Bohl had left for Wyoming in 2014 and Brock Jensen had graduated.
But somehow, some way, North Dakota State have kept the winning streak going under coach Chris Kleiman.
The journey for North Dakota State was tougher this year than their previous championship runs.
The Bison lost to Montana in the opening matchup of the 2015 season.
Then their senior quarterback, Carson Weinctz went down with a wrist injury on October 17th during their 24-21 loss to South Dakota at the FargoDome.
Video courtesy of North Dakota State Athletics
That injury to Weinctz brought further doubt to the Bison faithful that they were not going to return to Frisco.
They even thought that they would have gotten their refund because they buy their championship tickets to the National Championship matchup in August.
However, the Bison football team believed that they were going to turn their season around because they have won before when nobody thought that they would win.
Freshman quarterback Easton Stick stepped up and led the Bison to an 8-game winning streak that includes securing their fifth consecutive conference championship and also keeping their playoff winning streak of 16 matchups in the Fargo Dome alive and well.
However for the championship matchup against Jacksonville State, the coaching staff decided to let Weinctz start after he was cleared to play football by the doctors.
And Mr. Weinctz went 16 of 29 for 197 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 79 yards and two scores on 9 carries.
The Bison’s mindset of believing that they can win despite the obstacles that they face is a testament to what the residents of North Dakota love about their team.
Did you know that the Bison is 8-3 against teams from the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) since they joined the Division I level?
Do you also know in those 8 wins against FBS teams, five of those wins are consecutive against the Big Ten and Big 12 combined?
The Bison football team also have a strong fan base in Fargo, North Dakota and probably in all of college football.
The Bison faithful travel well whenever the football team is on the road
That is evident whenever the Bison are playing in the championship matchup in Frisco.
North Dakota does not have any professional sports teams.
So the only sports teams that come close to professional is the collegiate sports teams from the different universities that are in the state.
And the fact that North Dakota State has a rich history of winning national championships when they were in Division II before transitioning to Division I tells a story of how they have captured the hearts of the residents of North Dakota.
Video courtesy of North Dakota State Athletics
The residents of North Dakota understands that hard work and dedication is what gets them to be successful in life for the better.
North Dakota State exemplifies the work ethic that the residents of North Dakota share that makes them proud for the better.
The Bison also showcases the importance of having a positive mindset and working hard to achieve your dreams for the better.
When a person have the positive mindset and the work ethic to succeed in their respective careers for the better, they will eventually have the same success like North Dakota State.
“Johnny” Go Lucky
By Cheval John
So after months of all the hoopla on whether Heisman trophy winner Johnny Manziel “allegedly” received any payments for signing autographs during the BCS National Championship game, the NCAA decided to suspend Mr. Manziel for half a game when Texas A&M faces Rice on Saturday.
Really, half a game?
It’s asinine because it seems like Mr. Manziel got away with a violation that many others wouldn’t have been able to do.
This is really pale compared to a year suspension that Dez Bryant, now wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, got while he was a college player for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
No pun added.
Bryant’s violation? Lying to NCAA investigators, who questioned him about whether he had dinner with Deion Sanders.
That shouldn’t have constituted a year suspension.
What this says to me is that the NCAA will go after players ruthlessly who aren’t producing their bottom line: TV ratings and making money.
They also proved that getting student-athletes through the door to graduation is only secondary and their mission statement is only in words.
So congratulations, NCAA, you just gave the critics more amo to blast and criticize you even more.
With Manziel having the opportunity to play this season, everybody will forget about his “alleged” transgressions and maybe, lead the Aggies to win the National Championship.
They already won with this ruling.
An “Honorable” Way To Finish A Collegiate Career
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston’s Matt Johnson finished 15th in the men’s decathlon finals at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Johnson scored 7,697 points.
His 15th place finish earns the Bearkat senior honorable mention All-America honors.
Starting Thursday’s action with a sixth place 14.56 clocking in the 110 meter hurdles and a decathlon personal best of 156 feet 10 inches in the discus, Johnson climbed into seventh place overall after seven events.
He ended the day with a 16th place finish in the pole vault (14 feet, nine inches), 11th in the javelin (176 feet, five inches) and a 4:52.83 time in the 1500 meters.
The top eight finishers in the event were named as first team All-America and places nine through 16 were second team selections.
Johnson finished just 51 points out of the top 12.
Johnson started Thursday in 14th place after scoring 3,962 points in the initial five events held Wednesday afternoon.
Johnson started Wednesday placing fifth in the 100 meters with a time of 10.70.
He was 15th in the long jump with a leap of 23 feet, 3.25 inches.
In the shot put, Johnson placed 10th with a throw of 44 feet, 5.5 inches.
He was 22nd in the high jump, clearing 6 feet 1.5 inches. Johnson completed Wednesday’s action with a 13th place 50.10 in the 400 meters.
Charles White is the second Sam Houston track and field athlete who has earned a trip to Eugene.
White will compete in the triple jump Saturday evening.
Pair of Bearkats Set To Compete In NCAA Finals
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Competition in the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field championships begins Wednesday at historic Hayward Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.
Sam Houston’s two entrants will book end the championships as Matt Johnson starts action in the decathlon Wednesday morning and Charles White will compete in one of the final events on Saturday in the triple jump.
Johnson enters the decathlon ranked No. 15 in the field of 24 with a season best mark of 7,496 points.
Four of last season’s top eight decathletes are back this season.
A pair of freshmen also look to compete for the title.
Johannes Jock of Texas is the top seed at 8,293, narrowly ahead of Maicel Uibo of Georgia at 8,223.
Indoor heptathlon national champ Kevin Lazas of Arkansas also is in the field.
Johnson earned his spot in the 2013 NCAA field by winning the Southland Conference championship in May in Lake Charles.
The decathlon will begin at 12 noon (Pacific time) Wednesday, June 5, with the 100 meters.
Other events on Wednesday at the long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meter dash.
Thursday, June 6, action begins at 11 a.m. (Pacific time) with the 110 hurdles, followed by the discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500 meters.
White will have to wait until the championship’s final day on Saturday, June 8, when the triple jump begins at 12:30 p.m. (Pacific time).
The runner-up at the Southland Conference in May, White finished 12th at the NCAA West Preliminary Round to qualify for the NCAA finals.
His mark of 51 feet, 3.5 inches ranks No. 15 among the event’s 24 competitors.
Teammates Marquis Dendy and Omar Craddock of Florida are the pair to beat in the triple jump.
Dendy won the 2013 NCAA indoor long jump champion title.
Craddock is the only triple jumper in the field to reach 54 feet this outdoor season.
Two others, Dave Brown of Texas A&M and Tarik Batchelor of Arkansas, both have jumped farther than 53 feet.
Johnson and White both have the opportunity to earn All-America honors.
The top eight finishers in each individual event as first team All-America honorees while ninth through 16th places receive second team selection.
March Madness: America’s Unofficial Event
By Cheval John
I had the opportunity to cover collegiate athletics as a freelance journalist for the Huntsville Item for over two years in Huntsville, Texas.
As for those who might believe that they is nothing much to do in Huntsville, they will have to look deeper.
For starters, Huntsville is located just an hour north of the fourth largest city in the United States, Houston.
In reality, the small town is approximately 20 minutes from the Houston metropolitan area.
So for those who might want to see something different while living in Huntsville, they can just drive down to the Houston area.
Another thing that makes Huntsville unique is Sam Houston State University(SHSU) because a college campus is a “city” within a city.
And in any city or town, sports gives anyone the opportunity to be entertained for two hours or three hours if it is baseball, basketball or football.
The city of Huntsville can never be a home to a professional sports team because of the costs of having a stadium and a strong fan base.
The city of Houston has four professional sports teams because they have the infrastructure to provide the demands of what these organizations are looking for.
Case in point, the professional athlete making millions of dollars.
That is where collegiate athletics comes in for a small town.
The universities has to take care of their own departments.
And since collegiate athletics are under the umbrella of the universities, the places that these universities are based in don’t have to worry about the cost.
Which brings me back to Sam Houston State.
SHSU has 17 sports teams that competes at the NCAA Division I level.
And since the NCAA Division I level is as elite as professional athletes, Huntsville residents can see an elite level of competition that they would see at a major professional sports event.
I was fortunate to have covered the SHSU baseball team while they got three at-large bids to the NCAA tournament after winning three consecutive Southland Conference (SLC) regular season championships.
For any mid-major school, if you don’t win the respective conference post-season tournament, you will not get an at-large bid to any NCAA tournament.
I also had the opportunity to cover SHSU’s 2012-13 women basketball team that won their first ever SLC regular season title and finished as a runner-up in the SLC’s post-season tournament.
From the experience of covering SHSU’s sports teams, I will offer my answer to the question, “Are You Being Exploited By March Madness.”
I will have to say that I am conflicted to a large degree about the NCAA.
Beforehand, I would have disagree completely with the premise that college athletes are getting exploited by the NCAA because of the premise that they are going to school for free based on the scholarships that they are getting to play for their respective universities while the rest of the college student body have to pay a whole lot of money for classes and books in order to attend college.
However, I had a change of heart about the fact that the NCAA has taken advantage of the so-called “student-athlete” because they know that they don’t have to pay these same college students who are athletes due to the fact that they are college students.
I have always wondered why college athletics has been so huge in the United States like the major professional sports growing up.
I mean it is part of the student experience in college to participate in a sporting event.
The history of college sports in America is what makes the United States a unique country to live in.
At the same time, I feel a little disgusted by the fact that the NCAA and college coaches in the major universities are making millions of dollars while the same college athletes are not getting a single cent from the revenue that they are making.
Case in point, the NCAA are currently in their 14 year deal worth about 11 billion dollars with CBS.
The powers that be over the NCAA are being more profitable than ever.
The sad part is that the majority of college athletes come from low income families.
It is true that they get meals and “free tuition” due to scholarship.
But the fact that they can’t receive help from friends who can provide some funds while they are in college due to the fact that they might commit an NCAA violation.
This tells about the garbage rules that the NCAA has instituted and it feels to me at times that they want these college athletes to remain poor while they are attending college.
At the same time, these same college athletes should get a whole lot more compensation for the amount of money that the NCAA are making.
One thing that they can do is not make the scholarship a one year deal, but make it for the entire four years so that the college athlete will not have to feel the extreme pressure of succeeding on the field as well as in the classroom.
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